An Elite Day

Saturday I fished the Elite invitational event at Marston Fields ran by Fishing Association. A really different kind of event with none of us having seen the place, so it was all a bit of an unknown. 

The lake was deep and clear with a bit of weed about and apparently 99% carp. I made the mistake of starting on the feeder, as after two casts coming back with weed on the hook those who started short on pellets had already had a head start. Eventually dropped short and caught a few before they backed off, then had three at 15 metres and three on the feeder, having to cast around. Last half of the match our bit of the lake totally switched off. I ended up 2nd in my six-peg section with 29lb, but we were all bottom in the match. I’m not sure if anyone had so much as a bite in our bit for the last two hours. 

Other parts of the lake fished well however and those that had the foresight to bring some live maggots seemed to catch best. Well done Mikey Williams on the win. The venue fished unusual, which I half expected, but it has loads of potential once it opens officially with a load more fish being transferred there. 

A couple of highlights was the teeny weeny 1/10oz carp I caught and a 3oz bonus tench. It was also great to see my junior partner Sophie Ritchie doing really well on the other lake and collecting a heap of prizes! Also big thanks to my good friend Stretch Armstrong sitting with me all day and staying awake! 

All in all a nice day out. Hopefully it’ll go ahead again next year and with a bit of proper advertising it could be a really big spectator event in the match calendar…